If there's going to be a "a menu of certified options", how much does that differ from the current state of a catalogue of options from which users can select? I could see that it might be a longer list with more options, but surely the business would set-up the contract and then call-off against that?

Doesn't look like a major seismic shift to me, just an incremental expanding of options ...

Balance

"Temperature back down to 1997 level" or "2011 11th warmest on record"? Depends what message you want to send I guess. And according to the NASA and NOAA series it's either "back down to somewhere between 2001 and 2008 levels" or "back down to 2003/2004 levels".

Application forms rather than CVs, but same difference

If we ask you to complete an application form, that asks you to explain why you are the ideal candidate for the job, please take the trouble to do so - don't cut and paste your entire CV into the box (particularly including your name and other personal details when the instructions ask you to only include such details on the equal ops monitoring part of the form that only HR see). I am not going to read it all the way through to try and see whether you actually match the job description (and even if I did start to, if you're is the 97th application I'm reading I may well miss something, and you won't get an interview even though you are ideally suited)

If we ask for specific skills, please make a point of mentioning that you do actually have them. I have to score your application against those criteria: if you don't actually mention them HR won't let me give you full credit for them ... even if it's kind of implied in something else you say.

Please apply for the job we advertised, not the one you want to do.

If you are going to regurgitate the list of attributes from the person spec in a list that starts "I have the following attributes" at least copy and paste the things correctly. Particularly if we've said "Must be able to work methodically and retain a keen eye for detail" do not say "I work methodiclly and have a kean eye for deatail", 'cos that's not the impression you're giving!

On the other hand, if you actually read the instructions and the job description and person spec and write your application to make sure that you've mentioned all the things we asked about, you'll probably get an interview!

User perception of upgrades

We had an IT-illiterate senior PA, and we always knew that any change, she would be convinced had affected her PC. New printer, new microwave, clock change ... anything. So when we were planning a PC replacement roll-out, we left her tatty old mouse, keyboard and monitor (complete with password post-its!) in place and just swapped the base unit - which was out of sight under the desk. Not a word of complaint: she may even have thanked us for leaving it all alone for her! A few months later she was complaining about how slow her PC was compared to everyone else's new ones: so at that point we "speeded it up" by swapping the peripherals!!